the early-evening news

Negligent Mother to Meet ‘Your Mother’

Photo: WireImage


Start Engraving That Emmy: Model citizen Britney Spears will flex her acting muscle on an upcoming episode of How I Met Your Mother in a cameo role as “a receptionist in a doctor’s office that Josh Radnor’s character, Ted Mosby, goes to see.” [Access Hollywood]

Our Long National Smooth-Jazz-Related Nightmare Is Over: The Washington Post says the recent shuttering of several smooth-jazz radio stations could spell the death of the genre. As long as there are supermarkets, however, we expect Chuck Mangione to keep getting checks in the mail. [WP]

Gnarls Barkley Combat Piracy, Sort Of: Gnarls Barkley have moved up the release of their upcoming second album, The Odd Couple, by a week (to April 1) after it leaked on the Internet last Wednesday. [NME]

Harbinger Doomed: Fans of Valiant Comics’ Harbinger may soon get to be disappointed by a Brett Ratner–helmed film version of the series, as Paramount acquired the rights today and are naming him as a possible director. [Variety]

Leonard Cohen to Tour: Likely embarrassed by American Idol contestant Jason Castro’s recent version of “Hallelujah,” Leonard Cohen will attempt to clear his name by embarking on his first tour in fifteen years. [Billboard]

Tribeca Lineup Announced: The lineup for the seventh annual Tribeca Film Festival was announced today. The features this year lean hard on “complex relationships within families” and “death, sexuality, and immigration.” The documentaries will be mostly about Iraq. [Variety]

Negligent Mother to Meet ‘Your Mother’